Chapter Sixteen

The days passed slowly as they awaited the date of the village gathering that would decide the fate of their two packs. It was keeping everyone in this very weird space where they were caught between the tension of not knowing what would happen and the relief that they had managed to secure a diplomatic meeting. 

Hazel had been trying to make Alex and Sovereign comfortable in her home as she could. Their room (because she no longer considered it just a guest room), was now filled with their things and some of their stuff was making its way into the rest of the communal spaces of the house. There was a new, black throw in the living room, a selection of mugs in the cupboard, and a stack of black and red towels in the bathroom airing cupboard.

Some other things had made their way through her home too, like a selection of her own photography was framed on the back room's wall, Alex's laptop had a home on the coffee table, and Sovereign had taken up painting out on the back porch in his spare time. He said he found it calming and it turned out that he had quite the talent for it. He had gotten all flustered and happy when Hazel had hung his first landscape up on the living room wall. 

Sovereign didn't have very much that was his own, but his things were slowly collecting and it felt every bit as much his home as it was hers and now Alex's too. It was something that she was happily getting used to, having other people in her home, people who she could trust and who respected her. 

Alex, Sovereign, Mrs Blackwood, Luna, they were more her family than her parents had ever been to her. They supported her, made her feel welcome and at home, they cared about her and it made a whole world of difference to her life. She had gone so long without such things and now that she had them, it was like really coming home, like she was finally where she belonged, where she was always meant to be.

She only wished that she could have made it to the forest sooner. She wondered what it would have been like if she had been able to live with her grandparents instead of her parents while she grew up. She wondered if she would have been the same person of if she would have been completely different under their care. 

She knew that her grandparents were good people, that they loved with all of their hearts and that the people around them loved them too. She was glad that she had the life that she did, but she couldn't help but ask herself "what if" every now and then. Maybe she would have grown up knowing about the Moon Wolves, maybe she would have met Luna and Alex much sooner, maybe they would have even been childhood friends.

Whatever the answers to those questions were, she was glad that she was where she was right then. That the decisions she had made in her life had taken her to Fernwood and to the people that she now cared for the most. She wouldn't give up all that for the world.

Luna had really been like an angel for Hazel since she arrived at her new home, helping her settle in, introducing her to new people and being there for her at every turn. Hazel thought that it made sense that Luna was her soulmate. She didn't know to whom she owed being able to call Luna her other half, whatever entity or powers that be controlled their joined fate, she would forever give them her gratitude. 

Despite the fact that she hadn't really been showing it, Hazel had moments where she felt sad about the state of her relationship with her family. Sure, it was all on her parents for being so controlling and manipulative that they were no-contact now. Sometimes she wished that things could have been different, that she could have had friends and experiences like a normal kid growing up. She wished that her parents had loved her instead of treating her like a tool to further their business.

Something huge that escaping from them had done was that it had given her the freedom to choose what she wanted to do with her life, she could decide for herself where she wanted to be, who she wanted to be and what kind of life she wanted to shape for herself. For the first time, her future was in her own hands. 

Hazel had discovered more about herself and her family history in the short time that she had been within Bleydh forest that she ever had in the many years that she had been stuck back in the city. She had a new family too, a real family. She still had a lot of questions, but she knew that they would be answered over time. She still had a lot to uncover about her grandmother and grandfather, who were more tied to the Moon Wolves than she ever could have imagined. 

It seemed, too, from her grandmother's old diary, that her grandfather on her mother's side had been a Moon Wolf himself. It certainly explained why she, a seemingly normal human girl, had somehow ended up with her very own soulmate.

Before all of this had happened, she didn't think that something like having a soulmate was ever in the realm of possibility. She had thought that fated partners and destined lovers were a thing of fairy tales and fantasy. Even if it hadn't been, she never would have expected or dreamed that it would have been something that she herself would be gifted by the universe. 

There was so much that she still didn't know about the Moon Wolves, about their society, how they had managed to stay hidden for so long. She didn't know much at all about how her family was involved, or if her grandfather being a Moon Wolf resulted in anything other than her being able to have a soulmate. Were there things she could do beyond that, that she just had no way of knowing about?

Hazel had so many questions, but so much had happened that had stopped her from being able to ask them, from being able to finally get some answers and maybe some closure on her past.

It was frustrating in some ways, the waiting, the not knowing, the inquiries that were on the tip of her tongue that she just couldn't voice yet. She felt as though it wouldn't be fair to pester everyone while they were still in the middle of dealing with family matters and troubles with their neighbouring pack.

Thus, Hazel simply spend the majority of her spare time in the library of her home. She would peruse the shelves and read through her grandmother's diaries, which had their own little section on the shelves. They were all fancy-looking hard-back things or leather journals. 

She found them fascinating. She found it was became a much-appreciated escape from all the drama that was going on, and all of the tension in the waiting period leading to the town meeting. It helped that Hazel loved learning more about her grandmother and her life, about the things that she got up to with her husband over the years.

One of Hazel's favourite finds was her grandma's gardening journal. There were heaps of details about what plants were in the garden and even detail about which flora and fauna grew in the glades, the forest and around the lake. All of her notes gave Hazel ideas on blog posts that she could make about the local area. She could take her camera down to the woodland trails and take some photographs of the more interesting plants that grew dotted around the forest floor. 

Her blog had been doing even better after she had moved out to the forest and it made her feel warm inside knowing that her decision had not only benefitted her own mental health and wellbeing, and improved her social life exponentially, but it had also managed to benefit her career. 

Floss was definitely better off there too, where she had more people to play with her and love her, and more space to run around and be free. She could get the proper exercise that she needed and had access to much fresher air, which was better for both of their health. 

With Floss' care falling completely to Hazel, she found that she was getting much better at keeping herself fit and had a much more healthy schedule, seeing as she needed to walk Floss a couple of times a day.

It had been good for Sovereign, too. He would offer to walk Floss quite often, though he stuck to the area nearest to the house and never ventured too far down any for the trails. He was still on high alert around the forest, not quite trusting that no one would leap out of the trees and attack him. It was a shame to see how his past experiences had put him so on-edge, but it was more than understandable. 

He was a good person, bogged down by a crappy family and history if being all on his own without anyone he could truly rely on. Hazel could relate a lot to that, even if she at least had a well-paying job and the maids at her parents' house to keep her going, she could at least say that she had saved up the money to move safely beforehand, whereas Sovereign had had nothing. The fact that he was so strong and resilient despite all the betrayal, abuse and mistreatment that he had faced was incredible.

It was easy to see that he was still troubled though. It must have been beyond exhausting holding back his feelings and keeping things bottled up for so long. He was still a very private and withdrawn person, but he had warmed up to their little group a lot and Hazel really hoped that he felt like he had a true place with them, somewhere that he belonged. It had happened for Hazel and she honestly wished the same for him.

It was freeing to know that you could rely on others without having to worry about what they would think of you or that they might use your words against you if you chose to confide in them. It meant a lot to have a support system in place for once, people who were trustworthy that loved and cared for you for who you were.

It was a relief to have people there for you who offered their compassion and understanding willingly, without expecting anything in return, without expecting anything from you that wasn't within your capacity to give. 

She thought to herself that he needed that, probably even more than she did and she was glad that he had it now, too.

It was clear that Alex had been good for him, too. They spent almost all of their time together at the house, curled up on the sofa together or hanging out in the back room where there was more natural light. Sometimes, Alex would sit on the back porch and watch Sovereign as he painted. He would get this dreamy, smitten look on his face the whole time, sitting there for hours at a time. 

It was nothing short of wholesome and what was equally sweet was the way Sovereign would look at Alex with so much love in his eyes, when he thought no one else was looking. He deserved happiness, he really did.

Meanwhile, Hazel basked in the warmth of her relationship with Luna. Things were good, better than she had ever had before. It wasn't as though she had a whole lot of experience with relationships, having been sheltered and restricted her whole life, but she could still tell that this was something special. It felt like she was living in a fantasy story or a fairy tale (and not just because there were werewolves). 

Luna, despite being busy helping out at the stables and using a lot of her spare time to help Mrs Blackwood prepare for the town meeting, she would always be there when Hazel needed her, always make time to see her every day and spend time together. 

Hazel appreciated her company and companionship more than anything. Every time they were together, her heart soared. It felt like she was coming home every time they embraced and every time their lips met felt like peace. 

When they weren't spending time in their little group of four, joking around and watching shows with Alex and Sovereign, they would go for walks together or huddle up in each others' arms up in Hazel's loft room. They would bundle up next to each other or just hold hands and talk about anything and everything, or just enjoy each others' presence without the need for chatter.

Hazel loved those moments that she was able to spend with just Luna and herself. 

After all was said and done with their neighbouring pack, Hazel hoped that she would finally be able to ask all the questions she'd been holding back, not wanting to cause anyone any more stress. Hopefully, they would even come out of this mess with a better relationship with the other pack and its leaders. This all stemmed from an unfortunate coincidence and some misconstrued and miscommunicated information. The truth would come out though, in a way it already had and Hazel was just glad that things were moving forward.

She loved her friends, her new family, and she definitely loved Luna. She wanted them to be happy, to be able to live a comfortable life without the threat of possible danger looming over them. She was so relieved and happy that she had managed to convince Aiysha to hear them out and listen to their side of what went down.  

Her and Oliver at least seemed willing to accept that what their pack members had told them was a false version of what happened. To think that their attackers had tried to pin all of the blame for the incident on Alex and Sovereign when it had been them who went for Sovereign and almost killed him.

That day, Hazel was in her room, working away on her computer, editing one of her blogs and adding in some of her photographs. Her latest post was about some local recipes that Mrs Blackwood had been kind enough to show her. They used a lot of local ingredients from the farm and some wild plants that could be foraged from certain locations along the forest trails. 

She had included photos of some of the plants and typed up their names and descriptions. She hoped that people would enjoy them and maybe try them out for themselves (not everything had to be sourced from the forest after all, it was mostly things that were easily obtainable). Hazel always did like to see it when people went and tried things that she had blogged about or recommended. She loved to hear their experiences and feedback as it allowed her to grow and improve her content. 

Floss was curled up by her feet while she worked, resting her fluffy head on top of Hazel's slippers, which were tucked under her desk. 

The only sounds in the room were Floss' tail rhythmically thumping against the floor and the tapping of Hazel's fingers dancing across her keyboard as she typed. It was calming, almost therapeutic, listening to the gentle sounds and working on something that made her happy. The quiet felt particularly nice and Hazel was reminded again why it had been a dream of hers to live somewhere rural and secluded.  

When she was done with her article, she got up from her desk and walked over to the windows, looking out into the back garden. The sun was handing low in the sky, the bottom of the skyline beginning to get that hazy glow of an approaching sunset. 

Hazel took hold of the handle on the French windows and slid the door open, stepping out onto the balcony. She walked forwards and leaned her elbows against the railings. She looked out over the grass and trees and took in a deep breath, serene in the moment as she absorbed her surroundings. 

The sun was warm against the exposed skin of her arms and face, and the breeze ran through her hair gently. It was these moments of pure tranquillity that assured her of her choices. She was happy there, truly happy and she felt fulfilled in ways she never thought she would be privileged enough to experience. 

"I am truly blessed to be living this life." She whispered to herself.

When the sun was set, Luna returned to join them for dinner. They sat and ate together, talked, laughed, and for the evening they didn't let the approaching town meeting hang over their heads. For the evening they were just a group of friends having dinner together and nothing more.

They knew that things would soon become worrisome again, but for then, it was out of their minds.

After dinner, Alex and Sovereign went up to their room together and Hazel and Luna followed suit, shortly after finishing washing up the dishes. 

Once they were up in the loft room, they got changed into some comfy pyjamas and Luna got settled on the bed, waiting for Hazel to finish going about her nightly routine. 

"I'm just going to check my emails quickly." Hazel said, sitting down at her desk and taking her laptop off of standby. 

"Alright, don't take too long though." Luna said, lying down as she watched Hazel clicking away at whatever was on her screen.

"I'll be fast, promise." Hazel replied, directing a lopsided smile at her girlfriend.

When Hazel returned her attention to the screen before her, she refreshed her inbox and at the top was a message from someone that she never thought that she would hear from again. It was an email from her old assistant,  Derek.

Seeing that the email had no subject listed, she frowned and clicked into it. Once the page had loaded, her eyes scanned the message that he had sent to her and the further she got the more her frown deepened. She didn't want to believe the words in front of her, but there they were. She didn't know what to believe, but she did know one thing: Her parents had found out where she was.